The End of the Mayan Calendar

Mayan Calendar Ends

People gather at dusk in Bugarath, a small village in the foothills of the Pyrenees, Dec. 20, 2012, in Bugarach, France. The French Government is investigating the likelihood of apocalyptic sect activity or ritualized suicides due to the prophecy of an ancient Mayan calendar which also claims that Burgarach is the only place on Earth which will be saved from the apocalypse.

Patrick Aventurier/Getty Images

Mayan Calendar Ends

People gather at dusk in Bugarath, a small village in the foothills of the Pyrenees, Dec. 20, 2012, in Bugarach, France. The French Government is investigating the likelihood of apocalyptic sect activity or ritualized suicides due to the prophecy of an ancient Mayan calendar which also claims that Burgarach is the only place on Earth which will be saved from the apocalypse.

Patrick Aventurier/Getty Images

Mayan Calendar Ends

Duch Pieter van der Meer, left, and a friend uncover his Norwegian lifeboat in his garden in Kootwijkerbroek with which he can save 35 persons in case of a global apocalypse hits Dec. 21, 2012.

AFP/Newscom

Mayan Calendar Ends

Tourists at the "Gran Jaguar" Mayan temple at the Tikal archaeological site in Guatemala City, on Dec. 19, 2012 where ceremonies were to be held to celebrate the end of the Maya cycle known as Bak'tun 13 and the start of a new Maya Era on December 21.

Johan Ordonez/AFP/Getty Images

Mayan Calendar Ends

An indigenous family at Centroamerica square, near the Copan archaeological park, 300 miles northwest of Tegucigalpa, Honduras on Dec. 19, 2012. Honduras was one of five countries preparing to celebrate on Dec. 21, the end of the Maya Long Count Calendar -- Baktun 13 -- which began in 3114 BC.

Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty Images

Mayan Calendar Ends

Two Maya priests hold a water blessing ceremony at the Noc Ac cenote -- a natural deep deposit of water in Yucatan state, Mexico on Dec. 15, 2012. They were there to celebrate the end of the Maya Long Count Calendar --Baktun 13-- and the beginning of a new era.

Luis Perez/AFP/Getty Images

Mayan Calendar Ends

Maya priests hold a water blessing ceremony at the Noc Ac cenote -a natural deep deposit of water- in the town of the same name, Yucatan state, Mexico on Dec. 15, 2012 in the framework of the Maya cultural festival, to celebrate the the end of the Maya Long Count Calendar --Baktun 13-- and the beginnig of a new era.

Luis Perez/AFP/Getty Images

Mayan Calendar Ends

People walk through a plaza where a recreation of an ancient Maya ball game by Honduran and Guatemalan natives was to take place in Copan, some 300 miles west of Tegucigalpa, Honduras on Dec. 18, 2012. The game is part of celebrations building up to Dec. 21, when the current 5,200-year cycle in the Mayan calendar comes to an end and a new era begins.

Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty Images

Mayan Calendar Ends

Stefano Ariu, a Dutch artist, finishes a painting of the Pic de Bugarach mountain near Bugarach, France on Dec. 20, 2012.The sleepy town of Bugarach, nestled in the French Pyrenees, is bracing for the arrival of hundreds of New Age enthusiasts and UFO believers who want to witness the end of the Maya Long Count calendar.

Marko Drobnjakovic/AP Photo

Mayan Calendar Ends

This picture shows a view of the Dhuni (Holy fire) at the Bhole Baba spiritual center in Cisternino, in the southern Italian region of Puglia on Dec. 10, 2012. Cisternino is one of the few places on earth believed to be spared when the world ends, which according to the ancient Mayan calendar should take place on December 21, 2012.

Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images

Mayan Calendar Ends

This picture shows a view of the Dhuni (Holy fire) at the Bhole Baba spiritual center in Cisternino, in the southern Italian region of Puglia on Dec. 10, 2012. Cisternino is one of the few places on earth believed to be spared when the world ends, which according to the ancient Mayan calendar should take place on December 21, 2012.

Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images

Mayan Calendar Ends

Lu Zhenghai, right, near the ark-like vessel he was building in China's northwest Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Lu Zhenghai is one of at least two men in China predicting a world-ending flood on Dec. 21, the day many believe the Maya set as the conclusion of their 5,125-year long-count calendar.

ANPF-Chen Jiansheng/AP Photo

Mayan Calendar Ends

A man shows the "Before Doomsday" countdown app on his phone, in a Belgrade cafe on Dec. 20, 2012. From Russia to California, thousands prepared for Dec. 21,. 2012, when many believe a 5,125-year cycle known as the Long Count in the Maya calendar supposedly comes to an end.